One all, no extra time, no penalties.
Two differing gigs this weekend, Friday a 13th Party with the usual " too cool for school " playlist. Which songs brought them running in from the blazing sunshine and green fields to pack the dancefloor? Macarena and Cha Cha Slide. I spent most of the time effectively on my own, and regarded keeping them in the room for three consecutive songs a result. Hard work for little return.
Saturday, a 40th Wedding anniversary at a golf club I've played before. This one has some of the nicest staff you could meet, very pleasant. Sadly, not terribly well up on spatial awareness. Due to the placement of the temporary dancefloor, the disco was set up not actually facing it, and the cake table went in front of the bar! :eek: Had they not put the floor rammed tight up to the end wall, I'd have been facing it, so would my lights, I'd have faced the entire room instead of across it with guests either side, and the cake table could have gone where I was placed. Perfect.
Still, making the best of a bad job, the Hadrons went atop the poles, and were pointed wherever I wanted with ease, and the Mauis gave good coverage. The CD I was handed without prior consultation had the required track ripped and put on a stick, to play successfully.
We had a sit down meal first, which took up time, a speech or two, a poem, a Scottish Dance by a splendid young lady, and with twenty minutes to go, everyone remembered the tracks they must hear before leaving. Shame their memories didn't work in the four hours earlier, really.
We had guests from round the world ( well Scotland and America, anyway :) ) and the Scottish guest gently berated me for playing The Best, and said I'd have to atone for my error by playing Sunshine on Leith. We had quite a few tracks for the Caledonian contingent, including Scottish Soldier! I was thanked at the end for playing them, which was nice.
All in all, a good night, which could have been superb. At least my bargain basement kit all worked as intended when I plugged it in, so I suppose that puts me way ahead of poor Wayne. :p:Laugh:
( There you go, that's tempting fate, isn't it? )
Part the second. Still on track.
A learning process, and perhaps a rewarding one.
Diary filler for a netball presentation night, far side of Hull. The learning process is that if I'd listened to the sat nav, it's possible to get to the far side of Hull without going through town. I'll remember that for another time, definitely. Arrived at the Golf Club to be greeted with The North Face Of The Eiger! Steel fire escape, anyway, and my but it was a big one! Fairly shallow though, so workable.
Got into the room early, and set up at leisure, in a nice room. Stage was full of clutter, so I set up just in front of it, on the dance floor. Added a CrossfireXP to the Hadrons, in place of the "Just Married" gobo projector, which the bride had loved the night before. One complete wall was glass, so until ten pm, my lights were fairly useless.
We had guests from under sevens, to late teens, and parents and family. Once presentation and buffet were over, the under sevens appeared to want every Little Mix track ever recorded! Probably the oldest track I played was Flo Rida-Low, so you can guess the rest. Evening went as well as I could have hoped for, and the lights were nice when the house lights went down. I love those Hadrons. Guests drifted away staedily, and I packed up half an hour early, which was probably just right, under the circumstances.
Then the possible reward. Bar manager came up for a card, having been impressed by a DJ who didn't deafen her staff, and stayed in the room to press play, rather than leaving the rig on autopilot, and going out for a smoke! Some folk are easily pleased, eh? :D
Well, two down, two to go. I don't know what's more frightening. A bunch of marauding under sevens, or a bunch of squaddies dressed as marauding Vikings? :confused: Will keep you posted.
Part the third. The ego can stand a few more like this.
Haven't had one like that for a while. My but they're good for building you up after some lacklustre ones. :D:D
On paper, and initially on site, it wasn't too promising. Local Army camp Officers' Mess having a Valhalla evening. Viking costumes, food and entertainment, very popular in Jorvik. ( York. Viking name. Bang goes Rule 23 again. :( )
I arrived early, and was dismayed/apprehensive about access. Couldn't get direct to the main room, but got a Micromax on wheels, and the Rock'n'Roller into a room nearby well in advance, and settled down with the tablet and free WiFi. Was due to get access at 10pm, and soon after 9pm it looked like we might be ahead of schedule. Cue one DJ straining at the leash, wanting to get the kit up in a short turn round.
No such luck, 10.05 was when I could bring kit in, and it was frantic. I was promised 45 minutes setting up time, and told them I might be an hour. Not all the tables were removed from my stage area, so that meant a rejig of my plans. The floor had been covered in straw, and when they moved the tables, that revealed cardboard. Moving that revealed a fabulous black dancefloor that I've not seen before. Looked like huge bathroom tiles, really nice.
I got music running quickly, and added lights as I could. A crossfire XP was soon running, and the two Hadrons followed shortly after, under DMX control. Don't like using them without, now. I think I was running inside half an hour, and guests trickled back in. This was where I was worried. It's one thing having all night to see what they like musically, but when you're thrown in at the deep end so to speak, and asked to make them dance from track one, well............................................
No problem. I'd seized the chance for Werewolves of London while setting up, and they danced to that!!! Two more tracks, and a request for Whitney- Dance with Somebody filled the floor. After that, it was a prize every time. One of those nights when customers requests are all eminently sensible, and every one of those you play brings another of yours to mind. That night when every new track is greeted with whoops and cries, and you reckon Tiesto or my doppelganger Giorgio Moroder couldn't do better. One gentleman, conspicuous by being the only bloke my age in the room, came up and said he hadn't recognised anything I played, but he'd liked them all. He then asked for loads of Kylie. :D
A lovely lady informed me that she was an 80s girl, which coupled with Kylie, set us off with the Blue Monday mashup of Can't Get You Out Of My Head, some Flock of Seagulls, Echo Beach, Danger Zone, Karma Chameleon, and round to six plus minutes of the real Blue Monday. You know how sound is a funny thing, and you often hear snippets from the floor, well Wonderwall floated up, and I said it was too early, so I played She's Electric. Managed to get Bloodhound Gang- Bad Touch in, always brings a smile to my ears.
Well, the time just flew by, and my 80s lady asked if she could sing House Of The Rising Sun, as it would elevate her to Goddess-like status in the Mess. I bunged on the Karaoke track, and she was really quite good, which was a bonus. She'd obviously done it before, as she had no words to look at. A younger lady asked for Angels to finish, and by this time we'd already hit 1am. With no caretakers, bar managers or keyholders breathing down my neck, and a full dance floor, I was more relaxed than normal, and played Wonderwall, as I'd promised, with Angels to finish.
I'd got the lights low as well, and it looked great. I finished to applause, and the obligatory " One more". :D Well don't tell anyone, but tonight, they got " one more". ;) AC/DC Thunderstruck was the first shout from the floor I heard, and was perfect. Crossfire on sound to light going mental, and fader seven up on the Hadrons, ( the " bit of everything that's in there, with lots of strobe " fader), Mauis round to eleven, it was surreal.
Yes Jim, playing Thunderstruck, at 1am to fifty drunken squaddies is one of the reasons I make no apologies for telling a prospective client that this may not be proof that I'll be perfect for the 50th Wedding Anniversary at the Golf Club. ( Even though I will be ) :p:D:D
I'd already got my exit strategy planned, and it was only a short trip to the front door to pack the van in a leisurely, relaxed and thoroughly happy frame of mind.
You remember the elderly Kylie fan? Real HiFi buff. Was blown away by the Mauis, and thought they beat the :Censored: out of a couple of cheap boxes being thrashed to death. That added to my warm feeling of the night. An unexpectedly great night, and tonight's teen party looks unlikely to top it, but who knows? At least I'm still going, so that's a brilliant start. :)